Former Indian cricketer and ex-BCCI chief selector Sandeep Patil revealed that iconic Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, and Zaheer Khan knew the reasons why they were phased out of the Indian team. He also stated that the selection committee kept the future of Indian cricket before any relationships.

Sandeep Patil, who is one of the players from the Indian side that won the World Cup in 1983, was heading the five-man BCCI senior men’s selection committee from 2012 to 2016.

“First of all, I want to make it clear: I wasn't the only one making these decisions. There was a selection panel of five, and I was its chairman.

Whatever decisions we made, we made with the future of Indian cricket in mind. It feels very bad to bring this up today, but legends as great as Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, and Zaheer Khan had to leave the team or retire. They know the reasons. Our job as selectors was to put the interests of the country, the BCCI, and Indian cricket first,” Patil said in an appearance on 'The Great Indian Cricket Show' on Doordarshan.

Patil’s tenure as the chief selector coincided with a major overhaul after the 2011 World Cup win, as several veterans made way for younger talent to come through. Patil, who was also the NCA head, added that selectors had to make choices that affected long-term friendships; therefore, they had to uphold professional boundaries with players.

“You can be friends with players, but there has to be a line. You can't say, ‘He is my friend, so I will pick him for the team. When you are given this responsibility, you have to take it seriously. You are not thinking about your own cricket; you are thinking about India's cricket and its future. You sometimes have to make decisions you are not happy with, but you make them for the good of the Indian team,” he added.

(IANS inputs)